Finding Gavin (Southern Boys #2) (15 page)

Chapter Thirty

Gavin

I got the call this morning, the call that would change my life. I was approved for the adoption of Mikey. The chills ran through my body as Trevor explained the final steps. My chest ached and my hands trembled.

I would finally be able to bring him home with us for good. I would be able to tell him that he didn’t have to go back to the boys’ home, that he would be home, with us.

I could hardly contain my excitement. Pulling into the driveway, I raced to the front door and pushed it open. Maria spun around from the kitchen sink, looking at me like I had lost my mind.

I didn’t even allow her to speak. I grabbed her face and pulled her lips to mine. Pinning her against the counter, I kissed her until she was breathless.

Turning her around, I walked her backward until her back bumped the table. Lifting her up, I placed her on top of it and began kissing her again. As I quickly tore at her clothes, my excitement about feeling her body against mine was evident.

I pushed her back until she lay sprawled out before me, in only her panties. Maria stared back at me, completely lost in the thrill of the moment.

Without thinking, I gripped my erection and, pulling aside her panties, I began pushing inside her. We both moaned out in pleasure as our bodies began slapping together.

The table shifted beneath us, making sounds as it scooted along the tile. Her back arched off the table as her orgasm forced its way through her. She moaned, thrusting her breasts upward.

Gliding one hand across her breasts, I held my hardness in the other. I pulled out just as my own release shot across her belly. I groaned out loudly. “Damn.”

Maria’s laughter brought me out of the daze. I looked down at her, sprawled out on the table top. Her hair was a mess, and her shirt was barely hanging from her left wrist. A trail of clothes was scattered around us. My jeans were still pooled around my ankles.

I smiled down at her. “I will never look at this table the same way again,” I declared, only making her laugh even harder.

“You are such an animal.” She covered her face, still laughing at our rumpled state.

She was right, but damn if I wouldn’t do it again. She made me lose control. Mixed with the most amazing news, there was no hope. My joy had overtaken any possibility of control.

I grabbed a washcloth to clean up Maria, but I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.

“What put you in such a great mood?” she asked.

Once she was clean, I helped her from the table. We both began putting our clothes back on and attempting to right ourselves.

“I got ‘em. He’s ours,” I stated with pure overwhelming love.

“Yeah?” she asked, her eyes filling up with tears of joy.

I nodded my head and smiled. “Yeah.”

Maria jumped up into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. She cried happy tears as I held her close.

***

“So what do think about it, buddy? Would you like to permanently come live with us?” Maria and I sat at a table across from the caseworker and Mikey.

His little head shifted back and forth between her and us. I watched him closely as the entire situation settled in him. His eyes slowly began to fill with tears. His lips trembled and he stared back at me, unable to look away.

I wasn’t sure what was going through his little mind, and it was killing me.

“Do you mean it?” he asked, as a tear ran down his cheek.

I stood up and quickly walked around the table to kneel before him.

“I mean it, buddy. We want you to be a part of our family. We love you, Mikey. You belong in a home filled with love, and we can give you that. You make the both of us so happy.” I turned around to look at Maria, tears falling down her cheeks pulled at something within me.

These two beautiful people were meant to be a part of my life. They had crossed paths with me to show me how to love again.

“We will never try to replace your parents. What we want to do is help you to live out the dreams that I’m almost positive they would have wanted for you. We don’t want another day to go by without you feeling safe and happy. We want be there for you through it all.”

“Can we get a dog?” he asked, and I laughed.

I shook my head at his question. I knew that, between Maria and Mikey, I had no hope. Giving the two of them everything they could possibly want was what I wanted.

Maria laughed. “Heck, yeah, we can get a dog. Whatever dog you want, Mikey.”

She answered before I could. She shrugged her shoulders and held her hands out at her side. “What? You act like you weren’t already gonna say yes.”

The caseworker quietly observed our craziness, with a big smile stretched out on her face. There was no tension, no mistrust. It was as if the three of us had known one another our entire lives, like we had been having these kinds of conversations daily.

By this time next week, he would be home with us, just in time for the holidays.

Chapter Thirty-One

“I really appreciate the help, guys. It means a lot. The orders started coming in the minute Reed gave out my cards. Who knew custom cabinetry and woodwork would take off around here?” Colt was grateful for the help.

He had purchased a building just at the edge of town. It had a shop area, a nice large space, in the back. The front would serve as his display area and store. It’s a place where people could take a look at his completed work and designs.

It even came with an apartment above it. It was pretty big and spacious. The problem was it was old and had sat empty for years. It was in desperate need of a facelift.

Ben, Reed and I had all volunteered to help Colt with the remodeling, hoping that he would be able to move in sooner.

Reed had already lined him up with a few jobs. The guy’s work was pretty damn amazing, he had a talent. Each piece had a special touch that I had never seen in any furniture store. He was an artist in his own way.

“So Kori said that Mikey will be with you guys officially, after court on Friday. I bet you and Mar are excited,” Reed said, as he nailed the sheetrock up.

“Yeah, we’re all excited. Maria has been spoiling him. He is gonna love her even more once he walks into his room. She went a little overboard. My concern is the kid won’t ever wanna leave his bedroom.” Reed laughed at me, and all I could do was shake my head.

“Colt, when you gonna find a girl and settle down?” Ben hollered, looking over his shoulder.

“Nah, not me. All the sappy love-sick shit is for you fools. I think I’ll keep my sanity,” Colt replied.

I remembered Maria mentioning something just recently about her brother having an ex who had broken his heart.

Ben kept hassling him about setting him up on a date. The banter back and forth between the two of them was comical. They were two men who always seemed to want to have the last word.

“I could set him up with Kimberly.” Ben chuckled when Reed threw a small piece of broken sheetrock toward him.

“What?” he threw his hands out to his sides. It was not recommended to say the name Kimberly in the same room as Reed.

“I could have said Josie was cleared for take-off. Hell, he could take her for a spin. I hear she has a thing for men who come through her checkout lane.” He hid his laughter by turning his back to me, attempting to appear busy.

“Okay, asshole. Just leave me out of this. I got my girl, so there is no reason we should bring up past mistakes. We all make poor choices.”

I avoided saying anything more. Colt was here, and I had no desire to discuss Josie or any other woman. Well, except Maria, she was the only woman worth my time.

We spent the afternoon building, and around six we called it quits.

My phone rang from inside my pocket. I pulled it out and smiled.

“Hey, sweetheart,” I answered.

“Oh my god, is Reed still there with you?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, why?” I replied.

“Kori is at the hospital. Her water broke. We’ve been trying to call Reed. He needs to get to the hospital, like now.” She hung up before I could say anything further.

I turned around and found three guys staring at me with their eyebrows raised in question.

I pointed directly at Reed. “You better have a damn good excuse for not answering your phone.” He immediately reached for his pockets, coming up empty. “Your wife is at the hospital, and you need to get your ass moving. Unless you wanna miss the birth of your daughter.”

It was pure joy to watch him, as he began scrambling for his keys. I counted three times that he stumbled over something in his path.

Ben ran after him, chuckling. “Give me your keys. You’ll end up in the ER if I let you drive.” He followed behind Reed, and they both climbed up in his truck.

“You gonna head to the hospital?” Colt asked from behind me.

“Yeah, sometime soon. I figure we could finish cleaning up a bit before I take off,” I assured him.

We spent the next hour busting ass to get the dust and tools gathered. It was nice to spend a little time one on one with Colt. After all, I hoped that one day we would be family.

***

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Maria whispered, as she held baby Grace closely. “She’s perfect, Kori.”

I could see her unshed tears pooling in her eyes. It was one of those bittersweet moments. She was happy, I could see it. Yet she was saddened too.

I catch her crying often when she sees a mother with her children. Hell, even when commercials come on about diapers, she tears up.

I noticed Kori staring at Maria with a pained expression on her face.

“She already loves her Aunt Maria. She’s looking forward to all those shopping sprees you’ve been promising.”

Maria laughed and wiped at her eyes. “We will, too. We’ll shop ‘til we drop, little Grace.” She looked up and wrinkled her nose at Kori. “We’ll leave your momma at home, though. She’s a huge whiney brat when it comes to shopping.”

Kori’s smile matched Maria’s, as they continued to inspect the little bundle in pink.

Reed brought Rhett in, and they piled up next to Kori. It was time for him to meet his little sister.

Maria and I stepped out, to give them privacy.

I wrapped her in my arms, holding her close. We stood silent for a moment, before I pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes.

“You do know that, one day, I’m gonna watch you grow with our child.” Her eyes moistened once again. “We will be holding our child and memorizing every little feature. I promise you, baby.”

She buried her face in my chest, and I whispered into her ear. “Our time will come,” I said.

She nodded her head against me, and I held her a little tighter.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“This is all mine?” Mikey asked from the doorway of his new room, as his gaze roamed the room, in awe.

“It sure is. Every last thing,” Maria told him, and she placed his bag on the bed. “I figured we could go shopping together for clothes, if that’s all right.”

He looked back and forth between me and Maria, wrinkling his nose up in disgust. “I really hate shopping,” he stated, and Maria looked like someone had just kicked her cat.

“It’s all right, buddy, we’ll work it all out later,” I assured him. Maria appeared as if she was about to argue, and I grinned, shaking my head no at her. I nudged my head toward the hallway, requesting that she follow me out.

We stepped from the room to allow Mikey to settle in privately.

“Did you honestly just shush me?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I shook my head no at ya, so in a way I guess so.” I wanted to laugh, but I held it in. Maria was at times pretty damn feisty.

I stepped forward and took her face in my hands. Kissing her, I attempted to alleviate her spunky attitude.

Leaving her winded and aroused, I walked away chuckling.

Mikey was here with us now, and it felt even more like a home. A year ago, if anyone had told me I would be living with a woman and adopting a son, hell, I would have thought he was nothing but crazy.

But now I couldn’t imagine being without either one of them. They both made me feel complete. Everything seemed better when they were with me.

The past was nothing but the rocky road that had led me to the two people who now held my heart in their hands. I would do anything for them.

I later found Maria sitting on the floor in Mikey’s room wearing some sort of head device. She had that determined look on her face while staring at the TV. Mikey, on the other hand, sat on the floor next to her laughing so hard that he held his stomach.

“Shoot ’em. They’re gonna eat you. You’ll be a zombie burger for sure,” he shouted, as he jumped to his feet. He began bouncing up and down while pointing at the TV. “Run, no left. They’re right behind you. Go faster.”

“Where do I go? I can’t find my way out,” she replied.

I continued to listen and watch as Mikey laughed even harder.

“If the zombie apocalypse ever happens, let me and Gavin lead. You’d be sushi on the first day.” He flopped down next to her, as she pulled the headset off.

By the look on her face, she was confused. “How on earth are you supposed to win that game? There were like twelve hundred of those crazy, nasty things coming at me. It’s impossible.”

Mikey took the controller from her, slipping the headset on his head as he smiled. “Watch, I’ll show ya.”

He sounded so confident, and it only made my smile grow larger. Maria watched closely, shaking her head. Mikey whipped through room after room, blowing things up and moving on like it was nothing.

When he was all done, completely untouched, he shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Maria. “That’s how it’s done.”

She stared at him, occasionally opening her mouth, but no words came out. It was honestly one of the funniest damn things I had ever witnessed. Maria, speechless; that didn’t happen often.

I was pretty sure, that between Mikey and me, things around here would never get old or dull.